Outrage as police use helicopter to catch shoplifter at cost of £1,000 to the taxpayer

Police have been accused of wasting money after dispatching a helicopter to catch a shoplifter.

Officers sent up the aircraft to track down the thief after he stole some meat from a branch of Tesco.

He was caught near the store in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, and arrested on suspicion of theft.

Scrambled: Hertfordshire Police deployed the helicopter to catch the shoplifter

Critics have hit out at the 'disproportionate' response for the
15-minute chase, which would have cost around £1,000 when officers' time
was taken into account.

Fiona McEvoy, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Using a
helicopter is a very costly option that should be reserved for serious
incidents where members of the public are at real risk. It's quite
unbelievable that one was scrambled to track a meat thief.

'It's obvious that Hertfordshire Police have responded completely
disproportionately here and, with police budgets under pressure, they'd
be best advised to take a more moderate approach when dealing with
supermarket shoplifters in future.'